IN a dimly lit, smoky basement on Ninth Avenue, Veve Lane, 26, a receptionist by day and amateur wrestler by night, is getting ready to rumble.

“I’m back again, and I’m ready to take on any of you!” she screams to the scores of young men and women mingling around her.

The 5-foot-4 Brooklynite jumps onto a mat with a 20-something man twice her size and tries to pin him. “Get him! You can do it, girl!” yells a brunette from ringside.

“Escape your hips!” shouts a guy with a hipster haircut.

When Lane puts her opponent in a headlock and he finally submits, the crowd goes wild.

Welcome to Grapple Den, the place where fight club meets nightclub.

Midtown lounge Tagine holds these wrestling parties in its basement once a month on Wednesdays, when singles can meet and even get a little frisky if they like.

And since the Ninth Avenue club dropped its $20 entrance fee to $10 last month, admittance has doubled to 60 people a night, attracting everyone from doctors and lawyers to filmmakers and actresses, as well as members of the NYU wrestling team.

Revelers say the parties are less stressful than meeting people at a nightclub. Instead of asking a girl to dance, guys can ask her to wrestle.

“It’s a great alternative to a dance club,” says Damien Valadez, 27, a party promoter who pioneered these underground gladiator events where spectators can watch the action while they drink and smoke from hookahs.

Hanz Vanderkil, 27, a single computer engineer who lives in Long Island City, Queens, attends every month to meet women and, if he’s lucky, pin them to the mat.

“It’s a fun, new way to meet people,” says Vanderkil. “It’s a different way to unwind. It’s much better than going to a nightclub, standing there and staring at people all night and never talking to them.”

Although amateur wrestlers take part, all spectators are free to join in. Newbies can ease their nerves with an impromptu tutorial on the regulation 10-square-foot wrestling mat from an experienced grappler.

The evening starts at 9:30 with five-minute matches and culminates at midnight with a Royal Rumble tag team, where up to five couples wrestle in a group free-for-all. A referee with a whistle keeps everyone from getting too rough. “Nobody has ever been seriously hurt, says Valadez, but we do recommend that people have health insurance.”

At Grapple Den, there are no ropes or ring and headgear is optional, with some wrestlers wearing masks that cover their whole heads. Most people wear gym clothes, but each event has a theme, so people can adjust their costumes accordingly. Past themes have featured Cops and Robbers, Punk Rock Night and Pirates and Ninjas. The next event, March 25, is titled Scary Movie Night.

But Valadez swears there’s nothing to be frightened of. “This is a tongue-in-cheek fight club. It’s more of an aggressive cuddle party.”